The Way We Die
by Zoni
Summary: Sango stumbles across Sesshoumaru and Kohaku fighting. When Sango fails to save her brother, she takes her own life. However, sometimes, people deserve a second chance. Even if it's for all the wrong reasons. What will she do with hers? Sesshoumaru/Sango


**The Way We Die  
**_By Zoni_

The sunlight filtered through the trees and down into the forest that grew along the edges of the ancient village. It was the middle of the afternoon and the day was beautiful. Sango's thoughts were far from the quaint houses and dirt roads, though, as her footsteps fell quietly in the leaf litter. It had been weeks since they had left her own village, but the memories of what had occurred there were still clear in her memories. Kohaku. It was always Kohaku. Her precious little brother had been among the ruins of the houses as she hunted for parts to repair weapons with. Even though she knew that it wasn't really him looking back at her as his blades cut her skin, it was still her baby brother. He was the only member of her family that she still had left, and there was nothing that she could do to bring him back.

The images of his cold eyes had almost faded from her memory. At least, until this afternoon. She and the others had come across this village and had made the decision to remain here for the night. As they were first coming into the village, Sango had met another girl who, like herself, had lost her brother. The girl was mourning over his grave and tending to the graves of her other family members. The sight of her holding the bundles of tiny purple flowers and saying prayers for her lost sibling was more than Sango had been able to take. Excusing herself from the house where they were staying for the night, she made her way out of the village. There was a small trail that people frequently traveled to a nearby village, and it would offer her the privacy she wanted to think about Kohaku. 

Sango walked down the narrow trail, simply putting one foot in front of the other. All around her, the sounds of the birds kept her company and tried to raise her spirits. The further she ventured into the forest, though, the quieter it became. Then suddenly, the taijiya found herself standing in the middle of the forest and surrounded by complete silence.

Had she startled the birds? If that were the case, then the sounds of life in the surrounding trees should have stopped much sooner. For a moment, she wondered if there might be a wolf or other large predator in the area. Then, she heard he sounds coming from the south. Sango's ears could just barely pick up the scraping metal and shouting, but she would have recognized that voice anywhere. Every last instinct in her body told her that she should stay away, that the person she could hear in the heat of a fight was not Kohaku. There was no chance that it was him. The last thing she needed was to get tangled up in a dispute that wasn't even hers. It didn't matter. If there was even the slightest chance that it was her brother, she knew that she had to go to him.

Sango turned on her heels and ran towards the sounds of fighting. Even before she reached the clearing, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest as the voices became even clearer. Momentarily, she found herself looking through a break in the foliage. The sight that met her eyes was almost unbelievable. A meadow filled with wild flowers spread out before her, and in the center of it stood Sesshoumaru. The youkai lord paid her no notice, as his eyes were fixed firmly on the small form in front of him. Kohaku stood twenty feet from the youkai, slowly swinging his scythe at his side. There were cuts on both of his arms, and a large piece of uniform was missing on the right side. Sango could see the sheen of blood on his pale skin. This fight had been going on for a long while. The Kohaku standing there wasn't her little brother. Even from that distance, she could see the glazed look in his eyes. Naraku had control of him now. It didn't matter to her. He was still her little brother. Why was he fighting Sesshoumaru? The youkai lord was too strong of an opponent for him, even with the added strength and ability the Shikon no Tama gave him. Fear coursed its way through her veins as she watched them.

The bladed tip of Kohaku's kusarigama shot out like lightning and snaked its way towards Sesshoumaru. Before the blade could even hit armor, Sesshoumaru moved his hand and puled Tokijin from its sheath. As easily as if he were simply swatting a fly away, he deflected the attack. Kohaku's weapon fell harmlessly into the grass at Sesshoumaru's side. If the swift avoidance of his attack bothered Kohaku, it didn't register on his face. Instead, the young taijiya changed his stange, gaging the distance between himself and his opponent. Sesshoumaru looked almost disinterested. If it weren't for the fact that he was still holding a sword, Sango would have thought he had no intention of finishing the fight. That opinion changed the second that Kohaku moved.

Faster than she would have thought possible, Sango watched as Kohaku shot across the distance between himself and Sesshoumaru. His hands flew to teh blade at his side and he pulled the wakizashi from its sheath just as the older youkai came into range. His strike didn't come fast enough. The blade of Sesshoumaru's sword pushed easily through the thin black cloth covering Kohaku's chest, emerging through the boy's back. He held Kohaku like that for only a moment before removing the sword. Kohaku collapsed to the ground, sputtering.

"Kohaku!" Sango cried. The heavy pounding in Sango's chest became as loud as thunder in her ear as she watched her brother's body fall to the ground. Blood painted the grass around him red, and he barely moved with the effort of every breath. Before she even knew that she was moving, she was running out of the trees towards Sesshoumaru. He didn't even look surprised to see her as he turned to face her, blood still dripping from the edge of his blade. Only a few feet away, she pulled her own sword from its place at her side. Sesshoumaru blocked easily, raising his own sword to meet her strike. Her muscles strained as their weapons connected. Sango panted, leaning all of her weight into the effort.

In response, Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. With a single, effortless push of his arm he sent Sango sprawling. "You think you can fight me, human? That child had a better chance of harming me."**  
**  
Sango pushed herself up off of the ground, feeling the sting where the dirt and some of the pebbles in the grass dug into her skin. She was seeing red, and any coherent thoughts she had seemed to vanish from her mind. Her palm tightened around the pommel of her sword, and then she let out a scream. As fast as lightning, she streaked across the ground towards Sesshoumaru. There was a scraping metallic sound as Sesshoumaru maneuvered and intercepted her strike. Sango had anticipated his movement, and didn't spare a second to think. Swiftly, she pushed off of the ground and jumped into the air. Her slender body shot quickly over the swords, and she let her own slide out of her hand. She tucked her left arm and both of her legs close to her torso and popped the concealed blade out of the gauntlet on her right arm. Then, she slashed at Sesshoumaru's face, grunting as she felt the blade on her arm connect with flesh and bone. With the grace of a cat, she landed in a crouch behind the youkai lord.**  
**  
The blade on her arm was covered in blood, but she didn't take the time to see what damage she had dealt. Ignoring Sesshoumaru entirely, she ran around him to her brother's side. Only when she was beside Kohaku did she look up to see what Sesshoumaru was doing. Sesshoumaru was standing with his eyes wide and his mouth open in a snarl. His fingers were touching a large gash across the left side of his face and neck. Blood flowed freely from a large gash that ran from just under his eye down to his shoulder. His clothing was soaked in blood. A low hissing sound made its way through his lips. For a moment, Sango thought that he was going to charge her. Then, unexpectedly, he slid Tokijin back into its sheath, turned and left.**  
**  
Suddenly, Sango found herself alone with Kohaku. Her chest was still heaving with the effort of the past few moments. She didn't care why Sesshoumaru had left, or why he and Kohaku had been fighting. All she cared about now was her brother.

Kohaku laid on the ground, his chest heaving and shuttering with every breath. His eyes weren't glazed over any longer, but Sango doubted that he could hear her saying his name over and over again. His lips moved soundlessly, and a bloody froth poured out from between them. He was suffering. Every time she heard the thick sucking sound that his chest made when he tried to breathe in, Sango could feel hot tears roll down her cheeks. She knew this was damage that even the Shikon no Tama shard in his back couldn't heal.

On all fours, she crawled over to where she had dropped her sword. She pulled the weapon back with her and sat down next to Kohaku's head and shoulders. As she looked at him, she whispered, "Kohaku, forgive me. I love you. I am so sorry that I couldn't do more, that I couldn't save you. Please forgive me." Using both hands, she lifted the sword above her head and then brought it down on his neck. The first cut failed to go as deeply as she needed, and she cried out as she raised the blade again. It took more effort than she had thought it would, and she could feel the grind of his bones on her blade. Droplets of blood splattered her face and hands as she severed arteries. And then, it was done. Kohaku's head rolled several inches from his body. His eyes and lips twitched almost as if he were still alive. Sango gave a cry, and then wrapped her arms around her legs and sat in silence. Eventually, she said, "I am so sorry, Kohaku. I tried to find a way to save you, but in the end, it wasn't enough."

She had failed him, just like she had failed her father. Perhaps it was better this way. Sango wasn't really sure. At least Kohaku was able to rest in peace now. His small, broken body held none of the things that Sango had loved about him. Her baby brother was gone now, just like everyone else. Her entire family, her village and even her way of life was gone. This was a very difficult concept for her to grasp. No amount of effort could bring them back, or rebuild what was lost. Her village sat in ruins, overrun by nature. She was the last remnant of a society that was coming to an end. Her father would have been ashamed of the fact that she had left their village behind, that she had become so little. Looking at Kohaku now, she knew where she belonged.**  
**  
Holding the sword in her hands, she carefully turned it around. The muscles in her stomach contracted as the edge of the blade brushed her clothing. The length of the weapon was almost too much for her hands to hold without grasping the blade. Slowly, she tilted the sword up until the tip brushed the soft spot just underneath of her rib cage. Going directly through her chest was too chancy, she might just hit bone. This was the only sure way to make sure that things would end the way she wanted them to. 

As swiftly as she could, Sango pushed the sword into her chest. She could feel the burn as it cut through flesh. Her breathing became ragged and wet. She pushed the blade in further, and she knew the moment that she had hit her target. For a single instant, a rush of warmth flooded through her chest and a wave of dizziness overcame her. She fell to the side. The last thing that she saw was her brother, and she knew that he had finally found peace.

~(*)~

It was well into evening before anyone discovered what had happened. It was Kagome who first felt the shard and recognized it as Kohaku's. She and the others followed the trail, and what they found shocked them. While they had all known that Sango was troubled, they had never expected her to take her own life. Sango's body was curled up on its side. Her eyes were still open, though they were clouded over. Next to her was a pile of black cloth and a green obi. Among the cloth, pieces of yellow armor marked where Kohaku's body had been. Kagome walked over and picked up a small pink sliver out of the armor. Her eyes were sad as she looked at the body of her friend. What could ever drive Sango to do something like this? She didn't know. "Let's take her back to the village. She doesn't deserve to be laying out here like this."

~(*)~

Sango's body and Kohaku's armor were carried back to the village. It was too late in the day to hold a funeral, and it only seemed right that people be allowed to pay their last respects before she was gone from their sight forever. Leaving the doors open so that the air could circulate, they placed her in an empty home. Next to her, Kohaku's uniform was neatly folded and his armor placed on top. Inuyasha had laid Hiraikotsu next to both of them.

Slowly, the evening turned into night. As the time passed, Sango's friends came through one at a time. Each of them thanked her and told her that they were proud to have known her. It didn't matter that she couldn't hear them, they still felt the need to say it. She had left a mark on them.

When the last of the candles burned low, Miroku walked into the small building. He was the last of her friends, the only one who had said nothing since he had first seen the body. His eyes were sad and his heart was heavy as he looked at her. Whatever it was that had drawn him to her, it was gone. No matter how lovely her form, Sango was not Sango without her mind and personality. He had nothing to say. No words could express the grief he was feeling. A sigh passed his lips, and he left her in silence.

Another hour had passed and the candles had died on their own. There was no need to extinguish them. The entire village was as silent and still as death itself. No one noticed the tall figure that passed in between the buildings and walked into the house where Sango's body was kept. Even in the shadows, Sesshoumaru cut an impressive figure.

For a moment, he simply looked at the body in front of him. Almost without thinking about it, he lifted his fingers to touch the mark on the left side of his face. It was faint, barely even visible, but the scar that was left from the earlier fight had infuriated him. He knew that the mark would be entirely gone in only an hour or so, but the taijiya woman had nearly managed to remove his head from his shoulders. If her knife had only been a little further forward, she might have done irreparable harm. Looking at her now, she looked completely unremarkable. "No human woman could have injured me in such a way," Sesshoumaru's voice was cold as he addressed the dead woman. "I will know what you are."

With that, he dipped his hand to his waist and removed Tenseiga from its sheath and cut through her her body.

_To be continued...  
_~(*)~  
**Author's Note: **Thank you for reading the first chapter of The Way We Die! I hope you'll stick with the story. This fic will be five chapters long when it is done, and should pack an unexpected punch or two for you readers who are looking for a good fic and something different. I'm also well aware of how Tenseiga works, but we hardly ever see Sesshoumaru cutting through all of the little underworld youkai, so hopefully that doesn't bug you too much. Did you like this? Try my other fics, too!


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